The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family's Life with Art and Creativity

I have been following Jean's blog, the artful parent for a few years now. She has been an important part of my families life by bringing art to us in an accessible, interesting, fun and creative way. She believes in process, not product which is really important in the early years, yet, even with this philosophy much of the outcome is so unique and beautiful. Although her blog and e-books are chock full of activities, her book equally brings new, fresh projects for you to choose from. Add to that her inspiring writing on why children should be involved in making art and ways to add it to their life and you get a well rounded resource to go back to again and again! This book will help you enrich your child's life as well as give you the chance to be creative yourself in a sometimes not so artful day to day. It's been so fun to share this with my daughter and to see the joy on her face when she is creating. The artful parent is a gem!!

I've followed Jean Van't Hul's blog, The Artful Parent, since the beginning. When I learned there was to be a book, I was thrilled - the blog is wonderful but there is something about leafing through a hard copy of a book that is so much more appealing to me. Although some of the projects are similar to ideas she has explored on the blog, none of it feels old or tired, the material is still fresh and exciting. The pictures and projects are inspiring for both kids and adults alike. The text is written in an accessible and friendly, almost familial way. In addition there is lots of great information on art supplies and spaces, as well as essays by other artists and experts in various areas of creativity and art making. I think this book would be the perfect gift for a new parent, someone who already has kids/grandkids, or teachers - especially teachers in the preschool age range where art exploration and open ended projects should be a staple. Thanks Jean for sharing your time and talents with all of us!

I've been following this blog for awhile and was so excited to hear that a book was coming out. I've been devouring the book since I received it and I'm loving it so far. I'm not a naturally artsy or crafty parent and don't have time to run around buying a lot of different materials to do projects with my kids, so unfortunately more often than not I let them just do those things at preschool or school. With this book, I now have tons of ideas of simple art projects we can do at home together that are fun, simple and cheap. Just this morning my 3 kids (ages 8, 3 & 2) made art out of our recycling bin, an idea provided in the book. I don't know why I never thought of this before since we always have a full recycling bin, but it entertained them for several hours, didn't cost me a thing, and they made some really creative projects. I'm looking forward to using this book for many years to come!

"Get out Ms. Jean's Book!" is a regular request at our house. I am not someone who does crafts for fun, so I felt a bit awkward about doing arts and crafts with my kid outside of the usual tray of watercolors and paintbrush or a pack of commercial playdoughs. This book is a marvelous guide and changed my parenting and our house for the better! The book is clearly written, well-organized, easy to read, and full of great creative activities for various ages. I feel encouraged and capable when reading her instructions. (quite different from how I feel in the aisles of a craft store!) She has clearly put a lot of thought into creativity and parenting and combines her values and thoughts about both into a book that is full of warmth and joy. I give the book as a baby shower gift now. See her blog of the same name for even more ideas.

Jean's book is chock full of information on how to become more creative with kids. The topics I most loved in the book are her art supply lists, practical reasons why art and creativity enrich households, and of course, the actual projects. There are TONS of projects in this book. I had not seen the majority of them, showing that she has carefully kept many 'under wraps' and they are not available on her blog. The book is very bright and colorful throughout, and Jean's passion for art discovery for children and adults alike just rings throughout the book. I homeschool my kids and will be using this book's projects as a broad umbrella for our art curriculum. Most craft projects do not require items that are hard to find or expensive, though for the ones that do--there is a great supply store list in the book. The reason I gave this book four stars as opposed to five is that it is not user-friendly for children. An adult really has to read through the instructions in the book, and help, but I think it is also left that way for the project to be open-ended. My own children would have a tough time opening this book, and understanding the instructions instead of settling down to work and seeing a number or step-with-photos process, creating art independently. I really like this book and it comes highly recommended.

The Artful Parent is not just a book full of potential art projects that you can do with your kids. The Artful Parent is a thoughtful exploration into how to create an environment that is easier to offer art projects and creative sessions for your children- from how children view art projects to setting up the space in your home to make it easy to access projects for your creative offspring. There are also art projects within the book. What I really enjoy about Jean Van't Hul's projects is that from start to end, they are easy to accomplish. If you sift through Pinterest or the endless blogs of fanciful (and complicated) projects, you don't always get what you set out for. The projects are too complicated and end up frustrating the caregiver and the child. The projects that you find in The Artful Parent, as well as Van't Hul's blog and eBooks, are well thought out, easy to execute and keep my child (a boy) interested in doing and learning more.

Había leído muy buenos comentarios de este libro y me alegra haberlo adquirido, contiene muy buenas ideas y, lo que más me gustó, muchas recomendaciones para llevar a cabo proyectos de arte con tus niños. Las recomendaciones de cómo hacerlos, cómo hablar con tus hijos acerca de sus proyectos y qué materiales utilizar se dividen por grupos de edad, ya que las expectativas, actividades y necesidades de los niños cambian mucho en los primeros años.

Such an inspiring book that is about just adding art to your lives and not just very specific crafty projects which I find limiting. This just made me excited about getting my toddler just doing stuff, whatever it is, just drawing on the window or painting rocks or anything. It opens your mind up to the possibilities available around you and makes crafting with your kids much less daunting than a lot of the kids craft books out there. I LOVE it.

Excelente producto para trabajar la expresión artística con niños, ya sea en casa o en la escuela. Escrito con rigor y mucha sensibilidad.

consiglio questo libro a tutti quei genitori che hanno voglia di trascorrere tempo con i propri figli facendo cose belle e creative.Inoltre non è necessario essere grandi artisti per realizzare quello che l'autrice propone. Non è stato tradotto in italiano.

I definitely love this book. Full of creative, funny, low-cost suggestions for kids and their parents.